If you’re an athlete who trains daily and lives an active lifestyle or is someone prone to lower-body injuries like foot, knee, or hip, trying arch support thongs might change your life for the better.
What Are Arch Support Thongs?
Arch supports are a variety of portable devices or inserts that help improve the positioning of your foot to your footwear, like shoes. Thong is a type of footwear commonly known as slippers or flip-flops. Arch support thongs can help correct the foot biomechanics as they will effectively lessen the pressure on your foot arches. This can significantly reduce your pain levels and help you recover fast, especially if you have an existing injury.
There are different types of arch support thongs, and they also have varying functions.
- Gel Insert: It’s a slightly extensible material, allowing the person’s feet to sag slightly. This type of material fits easier with any user without further adjustments. This is ideal for people who have plantar fasciitis or inflammation of the fascia along the heel, most commonly known as heel spurs.
- Foam Insert: This type of material offers slight resistance compared to the gel types. This is also comfortable and provides a cushion for people who have pain in their feet.
- Plastic Arch Supports: Plastic is known to be a stable material that doesn’t alter the shape of the foot by forcing the wearer to adapt the mold of their insert. This type of material is perfect for someone who has abnormal foot conditions. It’s also customizable to provide maximum wearer support.
Now that you know what arch support thongs are and their types of material, here are the reasons why arch support thongs might improve your health:
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Prevents Injuries
Most people that choose to wear arch support thongs are mostly suffering from an injury, inflammation, or trauma in the lower part of their body. They might have a job that requires standing for long periods which results in having their weight fall toward their toes all the time. This will flatten out your foot and ankles that, in turn, will roll inward because your foot needs to absorb this motion. This occurrence is called pronation.
Pronation can hasten the wear and tear on your feet and cause you back pain due to the excessive twisting motion it creates. Having arch support thongs will prevent these injuries by keeping the pressure minimal on your foot, which allows your foot to maintain its original shape and position.
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Distributes Pressure And Corrects Posture
Arch support thongs help distribute the pressure in your foot by removing the primary pressure points: the ball of the foot and the heel. When the pressure is evenly distributed, the heel and ball of the foot won’t be burdened by pressure as much as when it has no arch support.
In turn, it corrects the posture of the user. The feet are considered the foundation of the entire body. The hip, knee, and back-related alignment issues will be solved when it’s adequately supported by the feet.
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Reduce Discomfort
Aside from preventing future injuries, arch support thongs can help minimize and even prevent the pain and soreness of existing foot conditions. This might be the reason why a person had to use arch support thongs. These devices can make it possible for you to continue your daily routine with more freedom even if you have injuries.
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Acts As Protection
Most footwear available in the market offers little to no support regarding the protection of the foot from debris and other elements. This causes many foot injuries. Evolution has it that the natural design of the foot is built with arches because it’s meant to step on soft terrain. As civilization progresses, humans are forced to walk on hard flat surfaces. That’s why arch support thongs are becoming more significant. It became a tool to help your feet adapt to the flat hard surface it’s walking on.
Final Thoughts
Arch support thongs are created to suit the needs of those who suffer from lower-body injuries like the hips, knees, and feet. It might help your overall well-being because it prevents future injuries, which might be taxing for your body to heal.
Aside from that, many manufacturers of these arch support offer a wide array of styles. So, you won’t be caught between choosing functionality over style. It’d be best if you would consult a podiatrist first to determine what type of arch support will suit your needs.
